Do you buy that people wont be able to tell the difference between Clark and Sup

[aerdna]

^^ and he wasn't even wearing glasses....point proven lol

[Dominicus]

Between Brainiac 5's mind wiping and Granny Goodness along with Desaad helping to influence and manipulate minds think by the end they're will be vague memories about Clark Kent from smallville.

[Billy Jor-El]

It's all moot as to why wouldn't they recognize him...I didn't see the coroner as Desaad until second viewing. We see what we want to see, or expect to see; that will be the power of any disguise.

[kal-el_Girl]

Of course I buy it, it has worked since 1938 so I'm game!

[actaeon]

It's not that people won't be able to tell the difference between Clark and Superman. It's that by carrying himself a certain way (by not "talking like a cop and walking like a fireman") people won't ever really look at Clark as being the same guy as Supes. It's like he never has the potential.

Hiding in plain sight. I like it.

[Dominicus]

It's not that people won't be able to tell the difference between Clark and Superman. It's that by carrying himself a certain way (by not "talking like a cop and walking like a fireman") people won't ever really look at Clark as being the same guy as Supes. It's like he never has the potential.

Hiding in plain sight. I like it.

Basically the bold hero playing the modest loser

[Costanza]

It's not that people won't be able to tell the difference between Clark and Superman. It's that by carrying himself a certain way (by not "talking like a cop and walking like a fireman") people won't ever really look at Clark as being the same guy as Supes. It's like he never has the potential.

Hiding in plain sight. I like it.

ITA! It's not so much about the disguise, but the fact that even if Clark and Superman do look alike nobody will ever link the two together because their behaviour is too different. I guess that Clark want to make the idea of him being Supes almost laughable in acting clumsy and all, so that no one will seriously envisage they are the same person. And that his name will be the last thing people will think about while trying to find out who is Supes.
So yep I totally buy that people won't be able to tell!

[Eurynome]

This is the absolutely weakest part of this and every other Superman story ever told. I can't blame this one on the Smallville writers. Superman canon has them painted into a corner on this one.

Agreed. I've never liked that it was a pair of glasses and a clumsy demeanor that "hid" Superman.

[Hopefulsuicide]

Those wondering about how "Clark Kent" (glasses, bad haircut, etc.) could ever be an effective disguise for the world's most famous superhero might care to examine the real life case of one of the world's most famous women.

At the height of her fame, virtually everyone in America knew who Marilyn Monroe was. Certainly, the idea that she could walk around New York in broad daylight being interviewed by a writer friend without being recognised seems laughable. Yet, that is exactly what happened: Monroe arrived with her trademark blond locks concealed beneath a headscarf and dressed as a typical, well-off, Manhattan housewife. Nothing about her dress or manner said "film star", still less "Marilyn".

After some time together, Monroe and the writer were in a Manhattan bookstore, and the writer commented about the lack of attention from the public. Monroe replied: "Do you want to see her?" and promptly took off her headscarf, straightened-up and became "MARILYN" - the megawatt smile, the breathy voice, the sexy wiggle in the walk - and was instantly mobbed. As long as she behaved in an unassuming, unstarry, manner, nobody would connect her with the woman who they saw in the movies.

If it worked for Marilyn Monroe, it could work for Clark Kent/Superman.

Great example of the point that I've always believed. People don't see what they aren't looking for. And whether Clark looks like Superman or not is kind of irrelevant, because they aren't looking for it.

[hellokitty]

it's not that people won't be able to tell the difference between clark and superman. It's that by carrying himself a certain way (by not "talking like a cop and walking like a fireman") people won't ever really look at clark as being the same guy as supes. It's like he never has the potential.

Hiding in plain sight. I like it.

exactly.

[Carstonio]

Smallville removed the chief obstacle to making the glasses disguise work - the close relationships that Lois had with both Clark and Superman. She was in the best position to figure out the double identity, even more so than Jimmy. Too many of the Silver Age stories had Lois hatching schemes to get Clark to reveal his secret. (The Blur triangle worked better for me than the classic triangle in the comics, because Clark never revealed his face or his true voice.) In Smallville, Lois would be able to cover for Clark from the beginning, essentially being his shill in the DP newsroom.

As for convincing Clark's other co-workers, I would guess that beat reporters don't interact with each other as much as, say, clerks at an accounting firm. Bert was an example of how the double identity would be a problem for the people on Clark's beat, particularly if cops like Bert will also regularly deal with Superman.

So when Clark does finally go public, I think part of his building two identities will be not just making shirt-and-tie Clark seem normal but also making Superman seem extraordinary. There's a great scene in Jeph Loeb's Supergirl where Kara looks in awe at a Superman statue, realizing that humans who think of her cousin as a god would never guess that he walks among them. (There should be a moratorium on Christ imagery when it comes to Kal-El.)

I hope Smallville's bespectacled Clark adheres to the "normal" concept. As much as I admired Christopher Reeve's portrayal, I thought he went too far in making Clark seem like a milquetoast. Clark's public persona should be likable, where one can easily see what Lois sees in him.